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- By Brian Edwards
- Economic Development
MINNEAPOLIS — The Center for Indian Country Development has launched a data visualization tool that tracks socioeconomic changes in Native communities over more than three decades, offering tribal leaders and policymakers new ways to analyze economic trends across Indian Country.
The Native Economic Trends tool, now available on the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’ CICD website, allows users to explore changes in Native economies since 1990 through interactive charts and customizable data views. The platform covers all 718 Native geographies recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau, including federally recognized reservations, state-recognized reservations and Hawaiian Homelands.
Amalea Jubara, a research assistant at CICD, presented the tool on Thursday at the center's 10th anniversary event and data summit.
“We heard from people that adding features that would allow users more flexibility and more customization in the data would help them tell the stories they want to tell about their communities,” Jubara said.
The tool operates in two modes. Compare mode lets users examine one geography against others, such as state or national averages. Combine mode aggregates multiple geographies into a single unit for analysis.
Users can track metrics including population changes, median age, school enrollment, housing occupancy rates, median household income and home values. During her presentation, Jubara demonstrated how the tool shows all Native geographies in Montana have about 31,193 housing units, which rose by roughly 5,000 since 1990, with median household income increasing by about $15,000 for both all peoples and American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Jubara acknowledged key limitations. Census estimates are place-based rather than tribe-based, meaning tribal citizens living outside reservation boundaries are not captured in the geographic data, even when they remain connected to their tribal communities and receive tribal services.
CICD developed the tool as part of a data initiative launched three and a half years ago. The center conducted focus groups with community members and experts to shape the tool's design and plans to update it annually, according to the website.
